With over 116 million units sold, the PS4 is the fourth best-selling console in video game history. If Sony can sell at least a few more million units, the PS4 has a chance to vault past the Gameboy and Gameboy Color, which currently stands in third place with nearly 119 million units sold. However, don’t think that Sony is selling more PS4s because of this, nor is it to help mask the PS5 shortage. Yahoo recently spotted a statement from a Sony Interactive Entertainment representative to Nlab stating that “there was no plan to end the production of PS4 at the end of last year.” An earlier report claimed that Sony plans to produce a million more units of PS4s in 2022. The same report suggested that it is easier for Sony to manufacture PS4s because it uses different semiconductor chips compared to the more recent and powerful PS5. What is interesting here is that what Bloomberg is saying is that the PS4 is unaffected by the ongoing semiconductor shortage that’s expected to last until 2023. The current supply constraints have prevented the PS5 from selling as well as it should. The PS5 might still have topped 10 million units sold in the shortest time possible, but the ninth generation console could have sold more if there were more stocks to go around. Having said that, Sony has always supported legacy for an extensive period. This is a practice that has served Sony well over the years. Case in point, the original PlayStation was in production from 1994 to 2006 and the PS3 lasted almost just as long as Sony supported it from 2006 until 2017. Sony’s support for the PS2 from 2000 to 2013 is still far more impressive, resulting in lifetime sales of 155 million units, which is good for the all-time top spot. Since the PS4 is still barely 9 years old, don’t be surprised if Sony continues supporting the console well into 2023 if not 2024. If it’s any consolation, the PS4 has shown that it can still keep up with the PS5. The recent screenshots of Horizon Forbidden West running on the PS4 suggest that there’s still plenty of life left on the console. On the other hand, Microsoft has long stopped making Xbox One consoles. However, this decision makes sense in light of the more affordable Xbox Series S, which is a far more powerful and economical option compared to even the Xbox One X.
